Business Interruption Checklist

Here is a list of documents you may need to maintain in order to have a successful business interruption claim

Obtain copies of company accounting records and documents related to the business interruption, including, but not limited to: Production records for the base period, the period during the loss and the period after the loss

• Sales records for the base period, the period during the loss and the period after the loss
• Inventory records for the base period, the period during the loss and the period after the loss
• Tax returns
• Sales tax returns
• Financial statements
• Cost accounting records
• Other statistical or internal records
• Bank statements
• Payroll records for the base period, the period during the loss and the period after the loss

Please note the carrier may consider the base period to be the prior month, the same month in the prior year, or the prior quarter.  This is all dependent on how income flows through your particular business including whether it is seasonal, how long you carry account receivables

Depending on your policy you may also be able to recover for the following extra expenses

Expediting expenses—expenses that are necessarily incurred for the purpose of reducing the loss.  

• Price premiums and extra shipping charges to expedite delivery of replacement machinery
• Extra shipping charges for inventory (such as the difference between air freight and land freight to meet contract deadlines)
• Difference between the cost of buying the end product from a competitor and the insured’s normal variable cost to manufacture

Extra expenses—expenses needed to continue business operation so that the business will not lose customers during a shutdown, such as:

Relocation costs

Overtime pay

Advertising costs in notifying customers of the relocation